Evacuation drills held at 4 schools in Kolkata

Kolkata: Evacuation drills were conducted by four private schools in Kolkata on Wednesday to assess the preparedness among students in case of an exigency on the backdrop of the tensions between India and Pakistan.

The drills were conducted at DPS-Ruby Park, La Martiniere for Boys, La Martiniere for Girls and Future Foundation School. A spokesperson for the two La Martiniere schools said the drills were conducted by the National Cadet Corps (NCC) wings based on instructions from the government.

Students went through the process of evacuating their classroom after an alarm was sounded, assembling in the courtyard and taking shelter. They returned to their classrooms once the all-clear signal was given, he said.“The entire exercise took place within 30 minutes, to make students well-versed about procedures required in case of an emergency. Students were very enthusiastic and eager to participate in the exercise,” he added. An official of DPS-Ruby Park said students were taught ways to respond to early warning systems to protect themselves from attacks. “Students were given demonstrations for early camouflaging of certain installations,” he said.

Indian armed forces carried out missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) under ‘Operation Sindoor’, two weeks after the Pahalgam attack claimed the lives of 26 people.